Georgia legislators hope to close some loopholes in the state’s elder abuse law with a bill that would boost law enforcement tools in fighting these crimes.

State Rep. Wendell Willard, R-Sandy Springs, recently said House Bill 72 aims to build on legislation passed in 2013 to protect the state’s elderly and disabled adults from abuse and financial exploitation.

GUNFIRE: On Jan. 8, Deputy Pamela Couch was dispatched to an area along Creston Lane, Commerce, where a man reported hearing gunfire which sounded like a large caliber weapons. The deputy located the source of the gunfire and the man said he had been shooting his guns, but had stopped at dark. He also assured the deputy he was shooting in a safe manner.

DISPUTE: On Dec. 23, Deputy Michael Stanifer met with a Braselton man, who said a woman was on his property and was refusing to leave. When a deputy arrived, the woman had already left. The officer located a path leading into some woods, where the woman lives in a tent, but she was not there.

In the wake of the ambush killings of two New York policemen on Saturday, Jackson County Sheriff Janis Mangum said she thought it important to remind deputies to remain diligent as they worked their patrols.

“My captain has been telling them to be more mindful of their surroundings and not be complacent,” Mangum said. “When you do this day in and day out, it’s easy to drop your guard.”

A repo man was angered recently when Jackson County sheriff’s deputies would not let him a tow a vehicle from a man’s yard.

Deputies were called to the home in Jefferson when the man reported that two men in a wrecker were trying to repossess his daughter’s 2004 Acura that was involved in a bankruptcy case, according to a sheriff’s report.

A picture of a woman’s dog posted on Facebook turned into a dispute with a Facebook “friend,” who threatened the dog owner, according to a Jackson County sheriff’s report.

The 33-year-old woman reported on Dec. 4 that she posted the pictures of her dog when the “friend” began making derogatory remarks about it. She then sent the man a private message on Facebook asking him to stop. He replied by calling her derogatory names and describing her as fat.